Manning case raises worries about chilling effect

New York, July 30, 2013--Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, whose
leak of classified documents to the website WikiLeaks sparked a military
court-martial that raised alarms about the chilling effect on the press, was
convicted today on six counts of violating the Espionage Act, along with theft
and other charges, but was acquitted of the most serious charge of aiding the
enemy, according
to news reports. The case has become emblematic of U.S. authorities' aggressive
crackdown on leaks of secret information.

"While Manning was not convicted of the most serious charge,
we're still concerned about the chilling effect on the press, especially on reporters
covering national security issues," said Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee
to Protect Journalists. "This aggressive
prosecution has sent a clear message to would-be leakers."

Manning was arrested in June 2010 and charged two years
later with more than 20 offenses, including charges of violating the Espionage
Act and aiding the enemy, in connection with the 2009 leak of hundreds of
thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks.

The leaked material included Afghan and Iraq war logs,
diplomatic cables, and video
footage of an airstrike that killed about a dozen Iraqis in eastern
Baghdad, including Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen and his
assistant, Saeed Chmagh. Manning pleaded
guilty in February to 10
of the lesser charges, but military prosecutors chose to pursue convictions
at court-martial on the more serious offenses.

The 1917 Espionage Act criminalizes the "communication" of
national defense or classified intelligence information with intent to harm the
United States. Military prosecutors also argued that Manning aided the enemy
because he knew Al-Qaeda could access the leaked documents via the Internet. Yochai
Benkler, a Harvard law professor who testified in Manning's defense, has
argued that a conviction on the latter charge would set a precedent in which
anyone who leaked sensitive information to the press could be accused of aiding
the enemy, an offense punishable by death.

U.S. authorities in the Obama administration have aggressively
gone after officials who leak classified information to the press,
charging seven under the Espionage Act, which is more than double the
number of all previous administrations combined. Manning is the first of that
group to be convicted at trial under the act--three pleaded guilty to leak-related
charges--and he was the only one to be charged with aiding the enemy, a
crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

The sentencing phase will begin tomorrow before the judge,
Col. Denise Lind, with Manning facing
more than 100 years in prison.